Smart phones and Emergency contact

moonstone gsp

Well-Known Member
I assume that most of us now carry smart phones. Most of these have the facility to pin point your location. I have a blackberry and this will indicate my location when I take a photograph so the technology is built in. I am sure that there are lots of apps for phones that act like GPS. My question is if these phones are able to do this type of tracking can this be used in reverse by emergency services if ever we found ourselves in a difficult situation. Also does anybody know if you are in a location that does not have a signal you can be located by the fact that your phone would be searching for a signal?
 
I assume that most of us now carry smart phones. Most of these have the facility to pin point your location. I have a blackberry and this will indicate my location when I take a photograph so the technology is built in. I am sure that there are lots of apps for phones that act like GPS. My question is if these phones are able to do this type of tracking can this be used in reverse by emergency services if ever we found ourselves in a difficult situation. Also does anybody know if you are in a location that does not have a signal you can be located by the fact that your phone would be searching for a signal?


Yep - there was a story recently of a guy who threatened to commit suicide, jumped on his motorcycle and rode off.

His concerned family contacted the police who used this technology to track him and then used a helicopter to watch him from a distance. He was later sectioned.
 
I don't think they can find you if you don't have a signal, but I would think that they should have a rough idea of where you are based on your last position and direction of travel.
 
Regardless of your location, or whether you have a signal for your particular network, if you dial "999" on your phone, it will find ANY available network to get through.
The emergency number is network independent.
Your location could then be pinpointed using triangulation and/or the signal strength of your phone.
 
In many locations that I shoot I can't get a phone signal so can't make / receive phone calls or texts. However I do get strong satalite signals so my GPS apps all work. I also have an app called "find my iPhone" this works off GPS satalite signals. If I failed to check in after a stalk my wife could contact the police who could then track the phone - as long as its switched on and battery is not flat, if that was the case then it could find the last recorded Location.
Wingy
 
I understand if you dial 112 instaed of 999 that this automatically provides the emergancy services with your location.
 
You could also consider a satellite personal locator
such as a "SPOT2" this transmits direct to satellite
and works anywhere. Lots of remote areas still
do not get mobile signals Cost about £110 plus an annual retainer
 
Gandy,

112 and 999 are the same. 112 is the EU standard emergency number. All it does is the same as 999.
No signal means no contact with anyone. Find my iPhone only works once Apple's servers can connect to your phone via Network or Wifi.

Stan
 
The smartphone technology is pretty amazing these days, I was pricing a job for the forestry commission the other day, I was in the middle of about 20 acres of seriously thick birch re-gen, visibility of about 10 yds, I used the gps on my phone on an aerial map and navigated the site with ease. It doesn't half sap battery power though..
 
You could also consider a satellite personal locator
such as a "SPOT2" this transmits direct to satellite
and works anywhere. Lots of remote areas still
do not get mobile signals Cost about £110 plus an annual retainer

I have a SPOT2 tracker for when I am stalking on my syndicate ground in scotland alone. This is ideal because there is a tracker function which transmits your location every 10 minutes and this can then be viewed on a website by anyone who has the link. It also has the SOS function which uses GPS to alert emergency services. You can also send pre-determined messages to let people know you're ok without needing mobile phone signal. Well worth the cost if you spend a lot of time outdoors. 100 quid a year subscription. I do a lot of hiking alone as well, so the cost is well worth it for peace of mind.
 
why don't you just go with a friend so if something happens he can get help or better still he can help drag that big beast you just shot.
 
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